Deirdre Bowen-Cassie, Katie Stocks & Ana Sanchez
Milton Keynes WIBN Members

WIBN can deliver great results!  That's the view of three members who recently collaborated together to win a substantial piece of work, against three other firms. 

Deirdre Bowen-Cassie and Katie Stocks of venture-Now (and members of Milton Keynes South and North respectively) and Ana Sánchez-Forner of dancing lion training & consultancy (member of Milton Keynes South) formed a partnership to tender for a comprehensive development programme for a telemarketing firm.  The client was Electricity 4 Business, a young, dynamic company based in Milton Keynes offering low cost electricity to small to medium sized businesses. 

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Lorna Evans - Hemel Group

Lorna joined the Women in Business Network at the original concept launch in January 2005, and she says that both her business and her as an individual have benefited greatly.

Lorna is owner of the BenTasha Group, encompassing Business and Life coaching for individuals and businesses, combined with on site Stress Relief clinics helping employees deal with incorrect posture and work related stress, helped by a number of remedies, including heat packs.  She has generated Heat Pack sales for her company 'The Real Heat Company Ltd'  from both the members themselves as well as expanding outside the group with sales to many of the member's contacts. 

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Laura Raynor - Berkhamsted Group

Laura provides therapeutic massage, deep tissue massage and Indian Head Massage to her clients, but specialises in deep tissue massage, particularly for those people with sports injuries, reoccurring aches and pains, backache and anyone using computers on a regular basis.

Laura joined the Berkhamsted group a year ago, when she was just starting out in her business and found the idea of promoting herself terrifying!  She had no real focus for her business and was drifting, getting waylaid by day to day problems and with no clear strategy for developing her business.  However, a year of WIBN has helped her change all that.  “I have met people with a wide range of businesses, but we all have lots in common. 

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Kate Hampton – Tring Group

Wedding, Portrait and Event photographer, Kate Hampton, is based in Tring and has been taking photographs since she was 7 years old!  Despite pursuing a career in advertising, television and the leisure industry, she never stopped taking photographs for her family and friends, who eventually persuaded her to focus fully on her photography and develop it as a business.   As she works on her own, from home, and has two children to care for as well, she found that it was all too easy just to focus on the needs of her clients, with business building and development taking a back seat. “Athough I have always been good at making contacts and keeping up a network, what joining WIBN has done, is to give me a monthly focus on my business.

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Susan Heaton-Wright - Welwyn & Hafield Group

At the very first WIBN meeting, Susan had a lengthy discussion with one of the experienced business women who suggested that with her background as a qualified teacher, along with 18 months experience in business training and her 'incredible speaking voice', (and relaxed but effective delivery) that she consider a business as a 'voice coach'.  This sparked an idea, and Susan spend time researching and devising material to offer vocal coaching courses for business people, finding 'guinea pigs' to try the exercises on and consulting with a speak therapist to ensure the training was technically correct. 

The business developed and 'Executive Voice' was formed.  The company's focus is to help both businesses and private clients to develop excellent communication skills through using the voice effectively, empowering clients to use their voices through developing vocal techniques and skills, and support individuals to effectively prepare mentally and physically for presentations, public speaking, meetings and interviews.

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Kate Marston – Berkhamsted Group

Kate was contacted by the WIBN at the beginning of 2005 and invited to come along to the February launch meeting of the Berkhamsted group.  At the time she had been working for 10 years as a senior designer for the Berkhamsted based consultancy, Dennis Fairey & Associates Ltd.  As business had been quiet, Kate convinced her employer it would be worth investigating.

Unsure of what networking was about and not having been in a 'sales' type role, attending the launch meeting was quite a daunting prospect for Kate, but the information she received and the WIBN website gave her a good idea of what to expect and the format of the meeting, so she was well prepared.

“That first meeting was a fascinating experience," said Kate, “I really enjoyed finding out about all the different career paths that women had taken and was extremely impressed with the amount of women who were actually running their own businesses. It was quite a buzz!"  Shortly after, the company announced it would be closing for business and Kate seriously considered starting her own design consultancy. 

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